Customer Reviews

We bought our Rudy from Eric and Bryan. They taught us how to be capable dog handlers. Through their patience and excellent guidance we were able to allow our Rudy to flourish and be a joy to be around. Nothing but praise for the quality of the animals (beauty, intelligence, temperament) and nothing but praise for Von Falconer staff, training, boarding etc. There is no one else that I would purchase a dog from.

-- Tina C.

We have taken our 4 year old rescue pit mix for assessment and training. Brian and Francisco were very attentive and Brian was gentle with our tough boy. Brian honed in on a few issues we had, without us having to tell him. We spent about half an hour with Brian and he gave us advice and pointers

In the end he invited us to come back to try out a class and sign up for training. We did take our sweet time to do so (mostly being lazy and in denial). When we did go back, we met a few of the other class mates and we immediately signed up for 10 sessions.

I highly recommend von Falconer for owners of 'tough' and grumpy dogs like ours was.

-- Ken L.

Von Falconer Canine deserves 5 stars plus! When you are looking for a German Shepherd dog you have to know that this dog will be a part of the family in a big way. Brian VonFalconer and his team understand how top breeding is done with this line. Your pup will learn all the basics very easily, sit, stay, come, which Brian offers with the purchase, but he offers much more as the dog grows. Family manners for German Shepherd are so important and Brian and his team take you there. These dogs are not over bread so there is minimal if any hip problems, they are beautiful to look at. I live in San Francisco and I can't walk down the street without someone telling me how beautiful my shepherd is. She is just as nice inside as out, and very protective. She is so smart that when I tell her it is OK she knows all is safe. She adores other dogs and plays often with them at the park. Brian had me expose her early on, and we did. What I love about the Von Falconer group is they still answer questions after three years of owning a dog. It becomes a triangle, you, the dog, and Brian. I searched all over for the right breeder and I am so happy I did my homework as I have a dog I adore. It is worth the trip to Santa Cruz. They also have a great web site.

-- Joanne F.

Von Falconer is one of those rare businesses that far exceeds expectations. I would give them 10 stars if I could.

We have two German Shepherds from Von Falconer Canine Training Facility, and they are beautiful, highly intelligent, loving dogs.

We have a four year old named Kona who is fun, connected, well behaved and happy, committed to keeping our home safe. We take her out with us often and always get comments from people about how beautiful and calm she is.

We wanted Kona to have a playmate at this point, so we just brought home from Von Falconer a four-month old named Winslow who was easily house trained and knows many of his commands. We expected to be going through the puppy stage for months, but Winslow has already learned to cue us when he needs to go outside and has gone from being a bit bitey to knowing how to "leave it" and how to be gentle when he takes his treats from us. We have only needed to tell him something maybe two or three times before he remembers it and makes it part of his behavior.

Our adoption of Winslow comes with two months of training sessions, and we expect Winslow to come out of his training knowing his full set of commands. Above all, we know we will have Von Falconer's support whenever we need it which makes the process so easy and so much more effective.

-- Terri M.

I've owned two Von Falconer dogs, both German Shepherds. I was a first time dog owner in 2001 and was pretty nervous about owning such a powerful dog. I contacted Eric Falconer to ask his opinion on whether a GSD would be a good fit for me. After asking a lot of questions about why I wanted a dog, my after work life, and what I had to offer one of his dogs, he said the right dog would fit my life, and he chose an all black female puppy from one of his litters.

GSD puppies need patient, consistent training but she was eager to please and learned quickly. She grew into a great example of everything a GSD should be... confident, obedient, and active, with a great temperament around people and other dogs. We went everywhere together and her striking looks were always complimented.

Quinn lived to two months shy of her 13th birthday. When I decided to get another pup I immediately went back to Von Falconer. Over the years, I had met other local breeder GSDs and they were always on leash or not allowed to socialize with other dogs for some behavior problem or another. I live blocks away from two other Von Falconer Canines and they are also friendly and obedient dogs so returning to Bonny Doon was a no brainer for me.

I now have a confident and friendly 7-month black and tan female puppy and couldn't be more pleased. Bryan, Francisco and K.T. have continued breeding great Czech lines and were extremely helpful in picking out the right dog for me.

-- Laurie R.

Our experience with Von Falconer has been (is) a good one. We have been taking our GSD rescue for training and purchased a puppy in addition. Both dogs and the whole family have benefited from the training classes and the advice given to all of us. Brian and Francisco, both, take their craft serious and they are always ready to share insights and advice.

We have boarded both dogs at Von Falconer's where they received daily training, workouts and playtime. Our rescue received special personal attention and her demeanor has greatly improved.

The dog we purchased is a very strong, intelligent and very good looking dog. He has a high drive and has pretty sound nerves. The influence of this particular dog on our rescue has been a tremendous. Our rescue is more confident, happier and more sound because of her pack mate.

GSDs need constant training and refreshers to obedience. Because of their high drive and their intelligence they will test their Alphas (which are supposed to be the humans) and if not corrected early, it will cause problems, such as described in some of the lesser rated reviews. The GSD wants to belong to his/her pack and they will work for it with loyalty and their protective drive, but they will also take advantage of a lax attitude towards training and try to run and rule the house, because someone has to :-) . No dog can be expected to be trained a bit, put in a home and have the 'protect' switch flipped. Training and refreshers are part of your life from now on until the end of your best friends time on this earth.

-- Lars F.

We brought our Dutch Shepherd here because she was wild and out of control. I'm really surprised that there is only one Yelp review on here because, just by word-of-mouth, we found out that this faciltity is well-known and well-respected in the training community.

We are so glad we "went out of the way" to find this training facility. It is nested up in the gorgeous Bonny Doon area, next to a winery and a Bahai retreat. A great place to visit.

Eric and his staff are kind, communicative and they understand our needs-- we were given a protection dog but we just want her as a pet. They were willing to help us if we wanted her to become a personal protection dog, but they were honest with us and they could tell that she would be better as a pet.

Our Dutchie changes when she goes to their training facility-- she obeys the staff naturally, obeys us when we bring her home, then we only have to reinforce what we learned. These people really LOVE dogs. They delight in bringing out the best in the animal, and in helping the owners make an obedient, happy dog.